GSA Closes 37 Data Centers

The US General Services Administration has closed 37 data centers this fiscal year as part of the national Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, a program that aims to reduce energy consumption and avoid real estate costs.

The 37 centers amount to 32 percent of the GSA’s non-core data centers. The closures meet the agency’s 2013 goal.

All GSA IT services have been consolidated into a single GSA IT office. This consolidation will lead to service improvements and cost savings, the GSA says.

In other GSA news, energy management services firm World Energy Solutions has helped GSA, New England Region, successfully procure over 920 million kWh of electricity – including more than 69 million kWh from renewable sources – for 119 federal accounts in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

Through a series of competitive online auctions on the World Energy Exchange, GSA tested multiple products and terms, receiving 168 bids from 8 suppliers in under two hours. The online event resulted in seven new 36-month contracts for block and index and fixed-price products – including 7.5 percent green power – that are expected to yield more than $5.5 million in annual savings compared to the participating agencies’ prior agreements.

The block and index product was specifically developed for the New England power market and incentivizes federal agencies to shed load during peak pricing periods. Along with GSA, participants in the procurement included the American Red Cross, Bureau of Prisons, Department of State, Hanscom Air Force Base and the Veterans Administration. Delivery under the new terms is set to begin March 2014.

In March, the District of Columbia Department of General Services signed a one-year contract for 100 percent CleanSteps WindPower from Herndon, Va.-based Washington Gas Energy Services. The contract meanss that Washington, DC government agencies now use 100 percent wind power for their electricity needs. This builds upon the prior contract between the District of Columbia with Washington Gas Energy Services for 50 percent WGES CleanSteps WindPower.

Earlier this month, FirstFuel Software announced that its Remote Building Analytics platform is being utilized by DC’s DGS to identify and deliver energy efficiency savings within the department’s nearly 30 million square feet of District-owned property.